Of the top officials in Obama's White House -- including czars, assistants to the president and other important positions, but excluding secretaries of statutory Cabinet agencies -- 24 are men and 21 are women. Sixty-nine percent are white, and 20 percent are black. Three officials are Asian American, and two are Hispanic. The statistics were compiled by the Presidential Transition Project at New York University's Wagner School of Public Service in cooperation with The Washington Post. Washington Post reporter Al Kamen served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tunisia.

I n less than a week, President-elect Barack Obama will settle into the West Wing, surrounded by a senior staff in which white men are the minority.

Of the top officials in Obama's White House -- including czars, assistants to the president and other important positions, but excluding secretaries of statutory Cabinet agencies -- 24 are men and 21 are women. Sixty-nine percent are white, and 20 percent are black. Three officials are Asian American, and two are Hispanic. The statistics were compiled by the Presidential Transition Project at New York University's Wagner School of Public Service in cooperation with The Washington Post.

More than half the officials are younger than the 47-year-old president-elect, and -- surprise, surprise! -- they're an overachieving bunch. Three-quarters have at least one advanced degree (17 have law degrees, 11 have master's degrees in business or public policy, and six have doctorates). Fourteen graduated from Ivy League institutions, like their new boss. ad_icon

About 20 of the officials served in the Clinton administration, including Lawrence H. Summers, the former Treasury secretary who will head Obama's National Economic Council, and Carol M. Browner, the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who will oversee energy and climate-change issues.

"It is by my reading the most diverse White House team in modern presidential history and speaks volumes to Obama's commitment to racial, gender, educational and generational diversity," said transition expert Paul C. Light, a professor of public service at NYU. "There are a very large number of very smart people, some of whom earned their smarts at leading colleges and universities and others who earned it on Capitol Hill and working for the Clinton administration."

Director Ron Tschetter: The PCOL InterviewPeace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sat down for an in-depth interview to discuss the evacuation from Bolivia, political appointees at Peace Corps headquarters, the five year rule, the Peace Corps Foundation, the internet and the Peace Corps, how the transition is going, and what the prospects are for doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Read the interview and you are sure to learn something new about the Peace Corps. PCOL previously did an interview with Director Gaddi Vasquez.

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Story Source: Washington Post

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Tunisia; Journalism; Humor; Obama

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